SpokeIt Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 9/17/2025
Contact: Dr. Jared Duval, Email: Jared.Duval@nau.edu, Phone: 928-523-0429

SpokeIt is committed to protecting the privacy of children, parents, and guardians who use our mobile application. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and how we safeguard it. By using SpokeIt on Android or iOS, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

1. Information We Collect

When you or your child use SpokeIt, we may collect the following information:

• Parent/Guardian Information: Name, email address, location (city, state, zip code), gender, race, primary language spoken at home, highest level of education, and timestamp of profile creation.

• Child Information (provided by parent/guardian): Name, gender, race, date of birth, speech impairment details.

• Speech Data: Audio recordings of the child’s speech during gameplay.

• Gameplay Data: Progress data, including which words were pronounced correctly or incorrectly.

• Technical Data: Device information (operating system, IP address), and usage logs.

2. How We Use Information

We use the collected information for the following purposes:

• To provide and improve gameplay functionality.

• To analyze speech recordings and improve speech recognition accuracy.

• To track the child’s progress and provide meaningful feedback.

• To conduct academic research. Any research use will anonymize personally identifiable information such as names and locations.

• To maintain the security and functionality of our systems.

3. Data Sharing

• We use Google Firebase to store and manage all collected data.

• We do not sell or share user data with advertisers.

• We may use third-party services such as Google Cloud Speech-to-Text to process speech data.

4. Data Storage and Security

• All data is stored securely in Firebase cloud servers.

• Only authenticated users and authorized researchers may access stored data.

• We use access control and encryption to protect stored data.

• Data is currently retained indefinitely and is not deleted unless otherwise required by law.

• Email Jared.Duval@nau.edu for data deletion requests

5. Children’s Privacy

SpokeIt is designed for children aged 6–10 with parent/guardian involvement.

• Parents/guardians must provide consent before creating a profile for their child.

• Children are also provided with an assent screen at the beginning of the game.

• We comply with applicable children’s privacy regulations, including COPPA (United States) and GDPR-K (Europe).

6. User Rights

At this time:

• Users do not have the option to opt out of data collection.

We are exploring options to provide these features in future updates.

7. Research and Academic Use

SpokeIt is also used in academic research studies.

• Data used for research will be anonymized to remove direct identifiers such as names, email addresses, and location.

• Findings may be published in academic papers, conferences, or journals, but no personally identifiable information will be disclosed.

8. Updates to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices. When updates are made, the “Effective Date” at the top of this policy will be revised. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

9. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or privacy-related requests, you may contact:

Dr. Jared Duval
Email: Jared.Duval@nau.edu
Phone: 928-523-0429